Education Commons^™

Restructuring Schools For Linguistic Diversity: Linking Decision Making To Effective Programs (2nd Edition), Ofelia Miramontes, Adel Nadeau, Nancy Commins

Nancy L. Commins

This bestselling book addresses a major instructional and policy concern in public education—how personnel and resources can best be utilized to develop strong instructional programs for a culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) student population. This meticulously updated second edition incorporates the experience that the authors have gained since the publication of the first edition in 1997. The changes not only reflect the current state of affairs in education, but also what has been learned from the many schools that have used the framework successfully.

Useful to prospective and current teachers and essential for educational administrators and policymakers, this new edition …

Assessment And Accountability In Language Education Programs: A Guide For Administrators And Teachers, Diep Nguyen, Nancy Commins

Nancy L. Commins

Administrators and teachers need defensible evidence of English language learners’ growth and achievement to drive their decision making! This groundbreaking book provides a field-tested approach to accountability for ELLs. Gottlieb and Nguyen propose the BASIC (balanced assessment and accountability system, inclusive and comprehensive) model. This model is research-based and grounded in practice. It relies on multiple forms of assessment data from multiple stakeholders that yield a body of evidence on language learners’ learning and academic achievement. This user-friendly guide exemplifies how to plan, collect, analyze, and use evidence of students’ language development and academic achievement to Respond to external accountability …

Responding To Linguistic Diversity, Nancy Commins

Nancy L. Commins

Second language learners arrive at every grade level with a variety of experiences and differing academic backgrounds. Responding to their learning needs means accommodating the entire range of students from monolingual English speakers to monolingual speakers of other languages, and a variety of bilingual profiles in between. This article discusses how schools adopt a "blue pathway" mindset for improving instruction for all learners. The blue pathway, which also leads to academic competence, represents best practice for second language learners--strategies and approaches that from the outset account for language proficiency and cultural diversity. Instruction on the blue pathway can be summed …

Linguistic Diversity And Teaching: Reflective Teaching And The Social Conditions Of Schooling Series, Nancy Commins, Ofelia Miramontes

Nancy L. Commins

Linguistic Diversity and Teaching raises questions and provides a context for reflection regarding the complex issues surrounding new English learners in the schools. These issues exist within a highly charged political climate and involve not only language, but also culture, class, ethnicity, and the persistent inequities that characterize our educational system. The text addresses these issues through conversations among experts, practitioners, and readers that are informed by representative case studies and by a range of theoretical approaches. It is designed to engage readers in beginning to evolve their own practical theories, to help them explore and perhaps modify some basic …

Restructuring Schools For Linguistic Diversity: Linking Decision Making To Effective Programs, Ofelia Miramontes, Adel Nadeau, Nancy Commins

Nancy L. Commins

The linguistically diverse population is the fastest growing segment of the student population. Educators are beginning to realize that a "models" approach to designing programmes for linguistically diverse students does not work, whereas a decision-making approach accommodates the variety of needs presented by these students. This volume offers the integration of the knowledge regarding English as a second language and bilingual instruction across the curriculum, presented with a process for incorporating them into a complete programme that lies precisely within the goals and realities of schools. It should prove useful to professors and graduate students of educational administration, teacher education, …

A Descriptive Study Of The Linguistic Abilities Of A Selected Group Of Low Achieving Hispanic Bilingual Students, Nancy Commins, Ofelia Miramontes

Nancy L. Commins

A study investigated the notion that bilingual students' low academic achievement may be due to semilingualism (having limited language skills) in each of the two languages, and the cognitive deficits that presumably result. The subjects were two boys and two girls from the fifth and sixth grades with low proficiency in either English or Spanish. Data were drawn from observations and audiotaping of natural and structured conversations and interviews were conducted with each family to provide information on the students' language performance both within and outside school. No evidence emerged that any subject mixed Spanish and English, but all code-switched …

Meaning Is Everything: Comprehension Work With Second Language Learners [Book Chapter], Nancy Commins

Nancy L. Commins

No abstract provided.

Redefining Literacy And Literacy Contexts: Discovering A Community Of Learners [Book Chapters], Ofelia Miramontes, Nancy Commins

Nancy L. Commins

No abstract provided.

Pre-Service Teachers’ Beliefs And Knowledge About Multiculturalism, Emmanuel Acquah, Nancy Commins

Nancy L. Commins

The present study examined pre-service teachers’ knowledge of issues related to multiculturalism and diversity before and after taking a multicultural education course. Data from 38 degree students in an urban university in the southwest of Finland were analysed using a mixed method approach. The results indicate that pre-service teachers’ knowledge levels increased with respect to diversity and multicultural education after taking the course. In addition, pre-service teachers felt more competent and prepared to teach students with diverse backgrounds after the exposure. The implications of the findings for teacher education programmes and teacher educators are discussed.

Language And Affect: Bilingual Students At Home And At School, Nancy Commins

Nancy L. Commins

No abstract provided.

Addressing Linguistic Diversity From The Outset, Nancy Commins, Ofelia Miramontes

Nancy L. Commins

Schools of education typically prepare their prospective teachers to work with amorphous “average students”—who are by implication middle class, native, English speaking, and White. They are then given some limited opportunities to adapt these understandings to students with diverging profiles—children of poverty, second language learners, and students of color. The authors argue that given the changing demographics of public schools, initial teacher education should be based on the understandings that teachers typically do not receive until the end of their programs or in add-on endorsements. They should be prepared from the outset to work with the wide diversity of language, …

Supporting Bilingual Learners And Their Families: Key Understandings For Pre-Service Teachers And The Institutions That Prepare Them, Nancy Commins

Nancy L. Commins

An essential component of successful schooling in linguistically and culturally diverse settings is the active involvement of parents and community members. This is made possible when teachers honor families’ languages and cultural traditions and build upon them. Teacher preparation programs play a critical role in helping preservice teachers reject deficit views and recognize that issues of status, power, and economic circumstances all play a role in shaping outcomes for students. Part of the asset orientation that must be fostered in new teachers is the understanding that primary or home language development contributes to both the academic success of children and …

Perceived And Actual Linguistic Competence: A Descriptive Study Of Four Low–Achieving Hispanic Bilingual Students, Nancy L. Commins, Ofelia B. Miramontes

Nancy L. Commins

This ethnographic study investigated the linguistic performance of four Hispanic bilingual students perceived to have limited language abilities in Spanish and English. The study provided data on the students' language use and abilities, in both languages, in a variety of school and nonschool settings. Data were analyzed qualitatively for evidence of students' linguistic, discourse, and narrative competencies. Performance was compared across settings and across languages for each student, as well as across students. All students displayed different strengths across settings in both languages. The data indicated that the organization of instruction limited the students' abilities to demonstrate their full range …

Whole Language: Reform And Resistance, Nancy Commins

Nancy L. Commins

The issue of educational reform and the role of the teacher in the reform process is discussed, using whole language as an example. It is argued that whole-language teachers must develop a theoretical framework that not only informs their views but also provides an understanding of systems and systems change.

Factors Influencing Title Vii Bilingual Program Institutionalization, G. Lewis, L. Baca, J. Bransford, Nancy Commins

Nancy L. Commins

This study of the primary restraining and driving forces that influence Title VII bilingual education programs found the external environment, the local community, to be the main factor influencing institutionalization and self-renewal. The internal environment--the local school, and the local school's organization or central office, school board, and superintendent--are also important forces.

Parents And Public Schools: The Experiences Of Four Mexican Immigrant Families, Nancy Commins

Nancy L. Commins

Relates the results of a study of four Mexican-American immigrant families and the public school system. Describes communication problems between these families and schools and special fears and barriers that immigrants experience. Interviews found that parents were interested in their children's education but unsure how to contribute.